Some conventional operating systems provide users the capability to “roll back” or “restore” the operating system and/or applications executing on a computer to a state in which those components existed at a previous point in time. For example, “system restore” capability may allow a user to roll back system files, registry keys, installed applications, and/or other components to a state in which the components existed prior to a system malfunction or failure. Similarly, some operating systems provide the capability to perform a “system reset,” whereby the operating system and/or applications are reset to their original, “factory” settings. Typically, a system reset involves performing a system restore to take the system back to the state in which it originally existed, prior to any changes being made to the operating system and/or applications, and/or prior to any user data being stored on the system. (The terms “system restore” and “system reset” are used herein to reference these capabilities for convenience, although any similarity between either of these terms and a term used to describe a capability provided by any conventional operating system should not be read to limit the term to the functionality provided by that operating system).